


Have to Run

by museofspeed



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-13
Updated: 2009-01-13
Packaged: 2018-08-12 08:06:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7927138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/museofspeed/pseuds/museofspeed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carol is smart and pretty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Have to Run

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://julius12.livejournal.com/profile)[julius12](http://julius12.livejournal.com/) as always for the beta!

**Title:** Have to Run  
**Fandom:** Impulse  
**Characters:** Bart/Carol  
**[Prompt:](http://shananagin.livejournal.com/32676.html#cutid4)** For [](http://random-30.livejournal.com/profile)[**random_30**](http://random-30.livejournal.com/): 001. It seemed like a good idea at the time.  
**Word Count:** 1130  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Carol is smart and pretty.  
**Author's Notes:** Thanks to [](http://julius12.livejournal.com/profile)[**julius12**](http://julius12.livejournal.com/) as always for the beta!

Carol makes Bart's brain hurt in the best possible way.

Bart knows he's not very smart. Wally tells him all the time. And Max doesn't say it, but Bart knows he thinks it. And Superboy says it, but Bart thinks he's mostly joking because Superboy isn't that smart either. Robin doesn't say it because Robin's nice, but Robin is _so_ smart and sometimes he makes Bart feel stupid by accident.

But Carol never makes him feel stupid. Carol's really really really smart. Maybe even as smart as Robin, but she's nice about it. She helps Bart with the problems he has trouble with instead of acting like it's obvious and he should know.

She _explains_ things to Bart, and he doesn't always get it even when she explains it, but she still tells him, and she's all patient and doesn't talk down to Bart like Wally or yell at him like Max or Robin or Superboy.

"I wish I was smart like you," Bart tells her.

Carol gives him that look she has, when she raises an eyebrow and looks at him over her glasses. It reminds Bart of Robin, but in a nice way.

"You're smart," she tells him.

Bart shakes his head so that he starts to blur. "Not like you," he says.

"You just don't think things through," Carol says. "You're very smart, though."

"I think things through," Bart says. "Stuff just gets muddled in my mind if I stop to think."

Carol gives him the Robiny look again. Bart should introduce them. Robin would like Carol. They'd both like each other a lot. They're probably the smartest people he knows.

Oh, she's speaking. "It gets muddled if you _stop?_ " she asks.

"Yeah," Bart says. "I think of tons of stuff and then forget it. Then I forget what I was trying to remember. Y'know?"

Carol frowns. "No, not really."

Bart shrugs. "Me neither. Dunno. Things are just easier if I blank my mind. Then I can just act and not worry about anything else."

"And then Max yells at you?" Carol asks.

Bart grins. "Yeah. Or Wally, or Superboy, or Robin."

Carol laughs and hugs Bart. Bart likes it when she hugs him. Carol smells really nice, but Helen's told him he's not supposed to tell girls that. Or boys, come to think of it. She says it's something you can't tell unless you're dating, but Bart isn't dating anyone, so he can't really tell anyone they smell nice.

Bart wraps his arms around her and they just stay like that. It's nice. Carol's nice.

Carol giggles. "Your hair's tickling me," she says. She ruffles his hair. She does that a lot, but Bart doesn't mind.

Bart grins and shakes his head, letting his hairs tickle the bottom of her chin. Carol laughs harder. "Bart!" she says. She moves her fingers against his ribs, and it tickles, so Bart laughs too, and tickles her back, and before long they're a giggly pile on Carol's bed.

Carol pets Bart's head absently. "Must be hard for you," she says.

Bart looks at her. "Huh?" he says.

"Always having to go slow," Carol says. "You said you get confused if you stop to think. I think I get it."

"You do?" Bart's sitting up excitedly in less than a second. He feels the world start to slow and he has to hold onto the bed post for a moment to remember that he can't get ahead of the world. Not right now.

Carol nods. "I think it's like this. You're always thinking, of course. Everyone is. And you do think things through. You've got a superspeed mind."

"I don't think things through," Bart says. "Just ask Wally."

Carol grins at him. "I prefer to ask _you,_ Bart," she says.

Bart shrugs. "I don't. I never make plans. Ever."

Carol nods. "Why?"

"Cause they take so much _time!_ " Bart whines.

Carol doesn't laugh at him this time. She gives him a thoughtful look. "But if there's one thing you have in excess, it's time."

Bart frowns. "I don't get it," he says.

"Think about it," Carol says.

And Bart does.

He thinks so hard the world slows down. Carol's face freezes, looking so pretty and smart and it's just in an instant that is all his now because for her this moment isn't passing at all and Bart's forgotten what she wanted him to think about. He's lost in how pretty Carol is.

She's very pretty. And when Bart's going this fast, he can see her for real, take in every detail. Her hair floating gently from the way she's moving her head, her nose, her glasses, her finger as she's pushing the glasses up, her eyes are twinkling, and Bart kind of wants to kiss her.

He can see all the ways it could go wrong, and he can also see all the ways it could go right. Carol's moving, he can see, so slowly he can only barely tell, and he's forgotten why he thought kissing her would be a bad idea again. He moves forward and brushes his lips gently against her cheek, then sits back down and smiles happily until the world catches up again.

He glances at the clock above Carol's bed. It's only been a few seconds.

Carol's flushing now, and she touches her cheek. "Did you – "

Bart frowns. "What did you ask me again? I forget."

"Did you kiss me?" she asks.

"Uh," Bart flushes and looks down. "Is it okay?"

"Why?" Carol asks.

Bart doesn't remember, so he shrugs. "I forget. I was trying to think about what you told me to think about, only I forgot and you looked pretty."

Carol doesn't say anything for a really, really long time, and Bart realizes he's speeded up again so he makes his mind go slow.

"Is it okay?" he asks, and it's still too fast. But he thinks Carol understands.

"Iiiiitttt'ssss ooooooookkkkaaaaayyyy, Bbbbaaarrrrtttttt," she says, and Bart has to speed it up in his head. It's okay. She says it's okay. Bart needs to run. _Now._

"Igottago," Bart says, and he's standing, and in his Impulse costume. "Carol," he says, speaking so slowly it almost hurts. "I need to run."

And she understands, or at least she nods, and Bart's gone, a red and white blur darting through the frozen town of Manchester.

Maybe he can fight some crime. That's always fun.

Or he can find Max and talk to him so fast that only they can understand.

Wally would understand too, but he wouldn't _understand._ Wally's sort of a jerk.

Carol isn't, though. Carol's nice. And smart.

Bart thinks he might be in love. Then he hears gun shots and he's off again to catch the bullets.


End file.
